


a little bit of quiet

by fantasticaldaydreams



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe, Flowers, M/M, brendons only mentioned, deaf!josh, flower shop, mark is a good fren, no death cause im a softie, not explicit at all tho, tw suicide attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-29
Updated: 2016-06-29
Packaged: 2018-07-19 02:20:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7340683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantasticaldaydreams/pseuds/fantasticaldaydreams
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>in which tyler is upset and josh enjoys flowers.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a little bit of quiet

**Author's Note:**

> so i wrote this in my phone on a plane ride. which means i didnt want to go through and capitalize everything. so. its gonna be uncapitalized, sorry. lets pretend its for aesthetic reasons.

josh sighed, rubbing his eye a little bit while flipping the sign in front to show 'open' through a window. it was six in the morning, a bit early for this sort of shop to open, but the owner seemed to believe they would gain more customers by being open earlier and later than other flower shops. later, josh agreed with, but very few people wake up at 6 am to get flowers.   
  
however, those who do show up at 6 am tend to be very grateful for the shop being open. usually their flower desires are emergencies.   
  
josh shrugged to himself and wandered back to the register, glancing down a couple rows of plants to make sure everything had been watered over night. with a soft sigh, he sat down in the chair near the register, pulling out a book from under the desk, and burying himself in it until he saw a small light blink in the corner of his eye.   
  
in case no one heard the door chime as it opened, the owner set up a few lights through the store that would blink a few times if the door opened. josh thought it was quite useful. he glanced up to see who had arrived, absentmindedly marking his place in his book and setting it down.   
  
"can i help you?" josh said, hoping his voice sounded clear and loud. he had trouble with that sometimes.   
  
apparently he had spoken well enough, because the man in the doorway smiled grimly for a moment before walking closer. josh noted that his hands were clenched into fists, and the expression on his face read anger, not panic.   
  
"how do i tell someone 'fuck you' with some flowers?"   
  
josh blinked, thinking for a second that he hadn't understood correctly. but, no, that is exactly what the man had said.   
  
josh paused for a moment, glancing down at the desk to think while keeping the man in his line of sight. after a moment, he began to write down some ideas on a note pad,   
  
geraniums    
meadowsweet   
foxglove   
yellow! carnations   
orange! not yellow lilies   
  
josh looked it over, and then glanced up at the man, who was still smoldering in front of him. "a bouquet of these flowers would work best i think," he said after a moment, idly resting a hand on his throat.   
  
"what do they all mean?"   
  
josh smiled a little. "idiocracy, uselessness, insincerity, disappointment, and hatred, in that order." his smile grew at the look on the man’s face: part confusion and awe, part happiness. "for a small bouquet it would be twenty dollars, but for you, fifteen."   
  
josh probably shouldn't have lowered the price like that. but the man seemed interesting, and josh had to admit from what he could see under the man's hat and hoodie, he was quite striking. his boss would probably get upset later, saying the man would keep coming back for cheap flowers, but a part of josh kind of hoped he did come back.   
  
the man shook josh from his thoughts with a smile. "thank you," the man said, and reached out one less-clenched hand to shake. "my name's tyler."   
  
josh smiled back, and shook tyler's hand. "josh."   
  
-   
  
it took about half an hour for josh to gather the flowers, after leaving tyler at the desk and instructing him to open and close the door up front if he needed anything. tyler gave him a slightly odd look at that, but josh was used to it, and wandered around to gather the flowers, wishing he could hum under his breath, but he wouldn't with another person in the shop.   
  
after he got the bouquet set up, he wandered back to the register and rung it up, glancing up at tyler every so often while the old machine tried its hardest to work correctly. "so who're these for, if you don't mind my asking?"   
  
tyler visibly huffed a sigh, saying "my..." before turning to the side. josh didn't catch the end of his sentence and asked "what?" before tyler could continue. the younger gave josh an odd look, but repeated himself. "my soon to be ex girlfriend. i caught her cheating on me. this is how i’m breaking up with her."   
  
josh grimaced, glancing down to see the receipt print slowly as he murmured, "that sucks. i'm sorry."   
  
tyler shrugged in the corner off his eye, and josh glanced up to see him murmur something indecipherable. at that moment, the door opened again, and in came what josh assumed to be mother and a daughter.   
  
he smiled apologetically at tyler, then turned to the newcomers and asked, "how can i help you today?"   
  
the mother smiled and began to open her mouth to answer, but before she could, the girl turned up and said something that josh didn't catch. he watched in confusion as both tyler and the mother looked upset and a little angry. he glanced over as tyler murmured, "you're going to let her say that?"   
  
"say what?" he murmured back, and glanced back towards the mother and daughter. the girl looked curious, and the mother apologetic.   
  
"i am so sorry for my daughter," she said. "i think your voice is just fine."   
  
suddenly it clicked into place. he must have sounded odd or slurred when talking to the two. he would have to work on that. "don't worry, i'm sure my voice does sound a little odd. i can't hear it to fix it, though."   
  
at the surprised expressions on all three customers' faces, josh smiled slightly to himself. he must be getting better at hiding the fact that he was deaf. he mentally thanked his mom for having him in speech therapy at such a young age.   
  
"so you're deaf?" he watched tyler's lips as he said this and nodded to him.   
  
suddenly, another couple groups of people came in, and he sighed, hurriedly giving tyler his flowers before getting to work.   
  
a part of him felt a bit disappointed when he watched the slightly taller man leave the store without a goodbye. josh tried not to think about how his being deaf seemed to have scared tyler off, and simply continued to sell people their flowers.   
  
-   
  
josh hummed slightly to himself, sure that it was off tune but not caring, buried deep in a book. it was five minutes after opening and josh didn't expect anyone for at least another half an hour. because of this, he didn't notice the light blink as the door opened, or the slightly taller brunet wander into the store, idly admiring josh's cotton candy pink hair.   
  
tyler stood there for about 5 minutes, simply admiring the man buried in his book, before josh glanced up and met his eyes with surprise.   
  
and of course, josh didn't really think before he murmured in a hurried and probably slurred fashion, "i thought my deafness scared you away."   
  
josh flushed moments after, but felt a bit better as tyler grinned and shook his head, saying "i just don't like crowds, is all."   
  
it was silent for a moment, for both of them, before tyler simply sat down in an extra little chair near the desk. "so what are you reading?"   
  
somehow, josh didn't think the man was here to get flowers.   
  
-   
  
"so you had to sit and google each flower and explain them to her?" josh said, trying not to laugh at the other's anguish.   
  
"yeah," tyler said, shaking his head slightly. "she almost didn't let me finish explaining them, she kept getting more angry. but she calmed down after i pointed out that mean flowers are nothing compared to what she'd done," tyler finished, smiling wryly. josh smiled a little in return.   
  
"so you said you play music?" josh asked, laughing a little at the look he received. "i can't hear it, but i love poetry, and really bassy or drum heavy songs that i can feel if i turn the volume up."   
  
josh paused, watching tyler take in this information and smile a little bit before adding, "i’m actually learning how to play drums. it’s weird, not hearing it and all, but i can feel the rhythm and that's enough for me."   
  
he had glanced down at his wringing hands as he said this, and glanced back up to see tyler grinning. "that's so sick!"   
  
josh grinned back, his hands settling at his sides.   
  
\--   
  
it became a normal thing for tyler to visit for about an hour after opening.   
  
sometimes he would stay longer, sometimes shorter, sometimes he would only have enough time to say hello before he had to leave. about a month in, after the two had exchanged phone numbers, tyler would occasionally text to say he couldn't visit.   
  
josh was always a little more subdued those days, texting tyler that it was fine while spacing out occasionally through the day.   
  
one day, tyler didn't show up, or text to say that he was busy. and the next day, the same thing, as with the next, and the next, until days bled into weeks and weeks bled into months and before josh knew it it had been half a year since he had seen tyler.   
  
he didn't admit to anyone that he had texted the man at least once a day, even though he was running out of things to say.   
  
one day, out of the blue in midwinter, someone walked into the shop moments after josh flipped the sign. he didn’t recognize this person, but greeted him just the same, wishing it were tyler.   
  
instead of responding to his greeting, the stranger simply asked, "can you take the day off?"   
  
"why?"   
  
"it's about tyler."   
  
josh hurriedly texted his boss that a personal emergency had come up, closed up shop, and was ready to follow this man in minutes. he idly thought about stranger danger as he got into the man's car, but shrugged it away.   
  
the stranger tapped him on the shoulder and he glanced over, seeing him say, "i'm mark, a friend of tyler's."   
  
"what happened to him?" josh asked quickly, his mind immediately going to a worst case scenario.   
  
mark was silent for a moment, before responding, "tyler was in the hospital."   
  
"why?"   
  
josh didn't get an answer, and was simply lead into an old apartment building, up three flights of stairs and halfway down a hallway. mark knocked on a door to their left.   
  
after a long moment, it creaked open, revealing tyler.   
  
or, rather, a husk of what tyler had been. the brunet had dark bags under his eyes, his hair was long and unkempt, and the clothes he wore hung limply on his body.   
  
still, tyler smiled and a little light returned to his eyes when he saw josh. wordlessly, tyler stepped out and clung onto josh, and he clung back, trying not to notice how frail tyler felt.   
  
"i know, i look like shit, i was fed hospital food for months and i hated it." tyler said, leading both josh and mark inside. josh noted that the apartment looked clean, if a little dusty.   
  
tyler sat josh down on a couch in front of a tv, and josh smiled at how cushy it was before turning to tyler. "what happened?" he asked quietly, smile falling from his face. tyler appeared to sigh.   
  
"i got in a car wreck." tyler said eventually.   
  
josh didn't hear it, but he assumed mark made a noise behind him, because tyler glanced at his friend unhappily before adding, "it was on purpose."   
  
a million things ran through josh's head at that moment, first disbelief then anger and hurt and pain but after a moment, he decided all he could do was pull tyler in for another hug.   
  
he felt tyler shaking against him and ran his hand up and down the younger's back, entwining his fingers in the man's longer hair after a while.   
  
tyler pulled back to look josh in the eyes. josh tried not to notice how close their faces were. "i won't do it again, i promise." tyler said, smiling sadly. josh pressed his forehead against the other's, and then held up his pinky, huffing a little. tyler grinned, a genuine grin, and interlocked his with josh's, murmuring "pinky promise" under his breath. josh grinned in return.   
  
-   
  
it wasn't really perfect, though. josh explained the basics of the situation to his boss one day, after he had to close up shop again to visit tyler. he didn’t realize before, but the taller sometimes had days where he couldn't get out of bed, and now that josh knew he couldn't just leave tyler by himself.   
  
pinky promise or no, josh knew how bad days could change everything.   
  
so his boss simply hired another person, some kid named brendon, who would join josh in the mornings and could open if josh needed to visit tyler.   
  
a couple months and about 17 visits tyler's later, josh asked tyler if he would like to move in with him.   
  
immediately after he had spoken those words, he tried to backtrack, flushing and wringing his hands. tyler was perfectly happy in his own apartment, surely, even if josh's was newer and closer to tyler's place of employment, because it wasn't tyler's home and tyler--   
  
tyler was kissing him.   
  
josh's mind blanked as he tentatively kissed back, feeling tyler sigh against his lips. he pulled back slightly, and watched as tyler murmured, "i would love to move in with you," and pressed another kiss to josh's lips.   
  
josh's mouth betrayed him once again. "i've been wanting to kiss you for a while," he admitted. tyler grinned.   
  
"so have i."   
  
and pulled josh by the shirt for another kiss. josh could feel tyler's soft moan as he moved to press his lips against the other's throat.   
  
-   
  
"let's start a band," tyler said, rolling over to smile at josh.   
  
it had been over a year since the two met, and josh didn't regret a single second. he wished he could hear tyler's voice, either speaking or singing his lonely songs or humming as he strummed a ukulele. but he made do by feeling the rumble of tyler's voice with a finger pressed softly against his throat, feeling his breath as he sighed, noting how his bones seemed to shake when tyler blasted the radio in the car.   
  
tyler simply wished that josh could hear what a wonderful drummer he was.   
  
"yes," josh said, returning a smile at tyler.   
  
"let's do it."

**Author's Note:**

> oh and sorry if i didnt get the flower meanings right, honestly i found a tumblr post about the scenario on the beginning and went with it whoops  
> also i did end up doing some research about being deaf and im probably exaggerating joshs ability to communicate but i bet with really good speech therapy n ability to read lips it works out? idk i didnt even plan for him to be deaf at first it just happened and i went with it  
> if theres any typos or constructive criticism or you just wanna say something please comment


End file.
